Will E-Sports Ever Overtake The Viewership of Real Sport?

For a community whose real origins can be traced to the beginning of the decade, E-Sports aren’t doing too bad at all. In 2019, the Fortnite World Cup was viewed live by over 2.3 million fans during the Solo Finals. In 2020, the Dallas Empire and Atlanta Faze CoD League matchup brought in over 331,000 fans over a live stream on Youtube, the most in its history. Of course, these numbers are dwarfed by the likes of the Champions League Final or the Superbowl, but unlike E-Sports, their origins can be traced back decades. So, the question is, can E-Sports ever reach the popularity and monetisation of real live sport?

Right now, the water is a little murky. E-Sports is a new beast and therefore most old-school sports fans are scared to let go of the risk and rush that real sport provides. However, E-Sports is undoubtedly the future of live sport, and as technology develops and larger sponsors start to put pen to paper, old-schoolers will begin to realise that that same risk and rush can be found right from the comfort of their own sofa - and more often than not, you don’t even have to pay the price of admission.

Take the CoD League for example. With new gameplay mechanics being re-imagined on a yearly basis, the style of play changes year after year, keeping players and fans engaged and continually interested. Viewing for the league is also free and widely accessible via YouTube or Twitch. When you compare this to the Champions League, where the only attraction is watching a millionaire kick a ball in a net whilst paying hundreds to sit level with the stadium’s roof, it hardly seems worth it.

In conclusion, E-Sports still has a long way to go to match its live sport counterpart, but with interest beginning to diminish and ticket prices ever-increasing, we could see a generational leap to E-Sports sooner than you think.

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